Loose Lug Nuts

Loose Lug Nuts by Mike Sanders

Let's Start With A Rant, Shall We?

I am not a journalist or member of the media. That's obvious from what I write and how I write. What I am is a schmoe with an opinion and a platform from which to give it. I speak only for myself; I don't pretend to speak for anybody else. That would be extremely presumptuous on my part. What I hate is when the sports media, either local or national, DOES take it upon itself to speak for me, and also to tell me who I should like and who I should dislike. According to the national sports media (and a certain four letter network in particular) if you don't worship Tiger Woods, the Los Angeles Lakers, and Notre Dame football, you're un-American (personally, I despise all three, so I guess that makes me a hardcore Commie or something). Hey, sports media: I don't remember signing a power of attorney document giving you the right to speak for me, so QUIT DOING IT!!! This bubbled to the surface a couple of weeks ago when I was reading the blog of a person (who shall remain nameless) who works as the news editor of a Michigan newspaper and who also writes a NASCAR blog (his profile says he "knows a ridiculous amount about...NASCAR..." umm...okay). The partial title of that particular blog was "Danica Patrick is tied in the points with Tayler Malsam, so where's his coverage?" Promising title...maybe this guy gets it. Ummm...no, he doesn't get it. It was a bait-and-switch. A couple of doozies from the blog:

1. "Maybe I should give him (Tayler Malsam) a call? But then again, how many of you would want to read about it?" Hey dirtbag, maybe a lot of us would like to read about him. Have you actually spoken to any real race fans about this, or are you just going to take it upon yourself to speak for us?

2. "We in the media know Danica is really not that much more special of a driver than many of her lesser-know competitors. But, and this is a really big but, they are lesser-known, and most people don't care about them." Again, who the hell are you to speak for race fans? If you want to speak for yourself, fine; don't say "most people" because you AREN'T MOST PEOPLE!!! And the reason they're lesser-known is because you and your brethren in the media are too damned lazy to cover them, and instead would rather shower undeserved praise on some low-talent semi-good looking (at best) publicity whore.


The Bimbo And The Un-Bimbo

Yes, Danica shall forever be The Bimbo, and Johanna Long is The Un-Bimbo, in that she drives under the media radar, and gets the best out of her underfunded car. I was hoping she was going to win at Daytona this past Friday night; she was in the top 10 with a handful of laps left, but alas, she ended up wrecked on the final lap and finished in 12th. Still, not bad. One thing I'm noticing the last few weeks as I read through NASCAR blogs and news articles is that Johanna is picking up quite a following. Some of the writers and commentors are saying that the main reason for this is that they're tired of The Bimbo being shoved down their throats, and instead of following someone who underperforms in the best equipment around, they would prefer to follow someone who is over achieving. I couldn't have said it better myself. Of course, The Bimbo still has her apologists out there. I had a little back-and-forth with one on Saturday. My point was that The Bimbo was receiving media coverage that was way out of proportion to her achievements on the track. This guy came back with "check the facts, she's 9th in the standings". So, I checked the facts and came back with "the facts are that only 16 drivers have run all 16 NNS races this year, so that puts her in the lower half of the full-time teams, along with such guys as Jeff Green, T.J. Bell, and Mike Wallace. I wouldn't be bragging about that". His retort was the oft-used and very tiresome "well, you think you could do any better?" Oy...and my answer to that, which ended our little internet conversation was "well, if I had been racing competitively since the age of 10 or so, and now had the best equipment money could by, then yes, I would be doing a hell of a lot better".


Junior's Win

When Junior finally won at Michigan, you would have thought world peace had broken out and that cancer had been cured. Alas, no, it was only one win. But the long national nightmare was finally over...or something. I did think it would finally give rest to those incessant "is this the week Junior finally wins?" articles that were increasing in quantity over the last couple of months. But no. The day after his win, I actually saw an article that asked "when will Junior win again"? Jeez, give the guy a break. If he's consistent, his next win will be at Michigan in 2016. As I was watching the end of the race, two things came to mind: first, the TNT booth bozos (who are just about as bad as the FOX booth bozos) spent so much time talking about how great this win was going to be for NASCAR, blah blah...that they completely lost focus on the other cars on the track. So much so that when the 55 car, which had been in the top 10 for literally the entire race, and most of that in the top 5, blew an engine with 5 laps to go (eventually finishing 29th), it was never mentioned, even after the race. The only reason I knew something was wrong was on that the crawler showing the running order and intervals the 5's distance behind the 88 suddenly grew at a very fast rate, and in one cycle he went from 5th to 29th. I kinda figured it was another blown engine for the 55 (the third in 7 races) and I was right, with no help from the guys in the booth. The second thing that came to mind with a handful of laps to go, was that this was the week that there would be no phantom debris caution to bunch up the field at the end of the race. I think the NASCAR officials figured that if they threw a bogus caution with three laps left and Junior leading by 5 seconds or so, the members of Junior Nation that were present at the race would have stormed the booth the officials were operating out of like the villagers storming Frankenstein's castle... torches, pitchforks and all. Anything short of a 50 megaton thermonuclear detonation in turn 3 wasn't going to be flagged, and even that would have been debated.


Longing For FOX?

As bad as the FOX broadcasts were for mangled camera angles and excessive booth stupidity, TNT seems to be trying out do them when it comes to horrific race coverage. Yes, their camera work is infinitely better than FOX, but the guys in the booth are getting worse instead of better, constantly talking over each other and sometimes not paying attention to the action on the track (which is what I thought they were being paid to do...silly me). And of course, the biggest concern for race fans: the gazillion commercials each race. There have been times when the race coverage is 3 minutes and the commercial time following it is 4-5 minutes. And it's happened more than once. When commercial time exceeds race coverage time, you've got a BIG problem. I know, I know, the bills have to be paid, and the rights fees have to be recouped from ad dollars, but enough is enough. And we're stuck with this TV contract until after the 2014 season. Maybe then we'll get a break. Or maybe not...


Time To Take The Wins Away?

After his dominating performance in the NNS race at Kentucky, Austin Dillon's 3 car failed post-race inspection. The win stood, and there were slap-on-the-wrist point penalties and fines. After winning the pole for the NNS race at Daytona last Friday, the 3 car again failed inspection. His time was disallowed and he was sent to the back of the field for the race; further penalties are forthcoming. In my very humble opinion, if a car wins a race and then fails post-race inspection, the win should be vacated. Everybody else in the field moves up one spot; the car that finished second is now declared the winner, and the original winning car goes to 43rd place. The argument against that is "the car that finished 2nd originally didn't cross the start-finish line first, so he can't be declared the winner". The counter-argument is "how do we know the original 2nd place car wouldn't have won if the original winning car wasn't cheating"? The discussion can go back and forth forever, depending on your point of view, but if wins that were gained because the winning car wasn't legit aren't taken away, what is to keep teams (*cough* 48 *cough*) from cheating every week? Something's got to be done, and that's the easiest and most direct thing. Instead of winners' points, you get 43rd place points for the race. That'll get drivers' and CC's attention, and quickly. Keep the win and only get docked 6 points (such as the 3 car last week)? BFD. Seriously, BFD. Six points can be made up in one week. 46-47 points (which include the bonus for winning the race and the bonus for leading one lap or the most laps)? That'll take a bit longer.

Mad Mikie's Laidback Lounge: Mike's Loose Lugnuts

By Mike Sanders

Drunk, Lazy, And Stupid Is No Way To Go Through Life, Son...


Especially if you're the chairman and CEO of a major sports organization. But Brain Dead manages to pull it off. On May 19th, just before the Sprint All-Star Race, he stated that he's pleased with the 2012 season: "It's been a good, solid year". Really? For whom? Maybe for you, because you're making a boat-load of cash, and The Felon is keeping your liquor cabinet fully-stocked with his weekly "donations", but what about the fans? It doesn't appears to have been such a great year for most of them, if you go by TV ratings and race attendence. Almost every track now has several sections covered by flags, tarps, or sponsor banners to attempt to hide all of the empty seats. Blimp shots of the stands get cut off abruptly once the large sections of uncovered empty seats come into view. There are no official race attendence numbers; everything is fudged. That's why you'll see numbers like "100,000" or "80,000" for race attendence. Most are completely bogus and insult the intelligence of most of the fans at the race or those watching (in decreasing numbers) at home on TV. Speaking of the All-Star Race...

The All-Star Debacle

This season, the Sprint All-Star Race was advertised as the only major sport All-Star contest in which the participants are actually trying. Considering what the NFL Pro Bowl has degraded to lately, that wouldn't be a difficult statement to make. And it has that potential: no points are on the line, and the winner gets a cool million bucks. There won't be any "points racing", so everybody can just go for it. Well, that's not quite what happened this year. The winners of the first three segments played possum at the back of the field after they won their segment, and then raced hard during the final 10 lap segment that decided the race. It was a monumental pile of horse dung. I don't want to hear about how those three drivers were "employing strategy by not using their cars up". Bull crap! After Bent Sh!tcan won the first segment then started the second segment a full straightaway behind the field, driving about as fast as my 82 year old mother, the whole thing went to hell. Someone from NASCAR should have been on the phone to the 48 team and told them that if the 48 didn't move up to the pack and race like he had a pair, he would be parked for the remainder of the race. "Sorry...no balls, no million bucks. If we wanted to see someone drive like that, we'd have put your wife behind the wheel." My solution for this mess is a simple one: make it a 100 lap race with no segments. Period. No mandatory pit stops. Stop when you need to or under caution. Determining the participants would also be simple: anybody who won a race between last year's ASR and this year's ASR gets in, as do past ASR winners. That's it. No bogus fan vote, no heat races. I can dream, can't I?

An Update On The Best Female Driver In NASCAR
And of course, it's not The Bimbo. It's Johanna Long. I wrote about her after Daytona, and, after being prodded by a couple of readers after my last article, I'll do it again now, and I'll continue to do it later in the year. The recently-turned 20 year old from Pensacola, driving for the under-funded ML Motorsports in the number 70 car, has now run 8 races this year, with an average starting position of 21.0 and an average finish of 23.8 (skewed by a 37th place finish at Talladega in which she ran only 18 laps due to overheating). The Talladega race is her only DNF of the year. She's doing great considering the lack of funding she has to deal with. By contrast, The Bimbo, in just about the best equipment money can buy, has stats of 15.4-21.0 and 3 DNF's. The Bimbo also leads Johanna in excuses for non-performance by about 23 quadrillion to zero. And speaking of The Bimbo...

Payback Is A ... Well, You Know
Good for Sam Hornish, Jr. for not putting up with The Bimbo's crap. The Bimbo puts him into the wall on the cooldown lap at Talladega, Sam retaliates with a well-timed (and COMPLETELY UNINTENTIONAL *cough, cough*) tap at Dover that basically ends her day. Good going, Sam! Unfortunately, there was a bit of collateral damage, as Brad Sweet got caught up in it. Wrong place, wrong time, etc.

NASCAR Sends Another Message

NASCAR probation has been universally scoffed at and mocked. It is (or was) completely toothless; it was their way of saying "stop...or I'll say 'stop' again". It meant nothing. Well, their suspension of Maxi Douche after his incident with writer Bob Pockrass after the Dover Nationwide race was a message to all drivers: when you're on probation, don't piss us off, or we WILL do something about it. Message received (I think). BTW, if the NASCAR media were polled off the record, I'm sure most of them would rather interview Maxi or even Mini Douche (as long as they had taken their meds) than interview Bent Sh!tcan, whose grating monotone drives everybody up the wall.

A Job Lost, A Job Saved?

I think this might have been Maxi Douche's last chance. It's a good thing that the contract between him and car owner James Finch was a handshake deal and not in writing. Finch was already having a hard time finding sponsors for the 51, but now (with the possible exception of Jerry Springer's offer, which I think is just a publicity stunt...but what a fitting driver to sponsor) I doubt any top-tier or even mid-tier sponsor would touch the 51 with a 10 foot pole as long as Maxi is behind the wheel. On the other side of things, did the win at Pocono save Burnt Toast's job in the 20 car? As much as I'd like to say that it's The Coach's call on that one, sadly the call will probably be made by Home Depot. Yep, sponsors run NASCAR these days, especially big name sponsors like HD. If they want somebody else behind the wheel of the 20 next year (this is the final year of BT's contract), then The Coach will be forced to make a change. Gotta keep the big money guys happy.

Could It Happen?
We all know that the dreaded disease know as "The Chase for the Sprint Cup" was the kneejerk reaction to Matt Kenseth winning the 2003 championship going away despite only winning one race all year. Thus far in 2012, the most consistent driver in the Cup series is also one of the drivers who hasn't won this year: that's right, it's June Bug. Wouldn't it be a nice thumb in the eye of Brain Dead and the other chuckleheads-in-charge if June Bug won the championship this year and didn't win a race? You'd be able to hear the cementheads exploding all the way here in Orlando.

TNT Takes Charge
TNT telecasted the Pocono race and has the next five races before ESPN takes over. For the first time all year I could actually see more than two cars on the track at the same time. What a concept! And while the guys in the booth aren't as bad as FOX's crew, they've got some improving to do. Still, nothing beats a "boogity"-less green flag to start a race.

Random Ramblings

By John "Dawg" Chapman


Random Ramblings

Denny Hamlin wins his first race with new Crew Chef Darien Grubb. We
get a spate of stories about who'll be the winner of the CC battle
between Darien, & Tony's  new CC Steve Addington.  Then Tony, &
Steve answer with one of their own. More stories, Tony, & Steve pull
ahead, & we get even more stories, then Denny, & Darien, even things
up at 2 all. Oh well, I guess this gives all of us something pretty
mindless to write about.

It seems to me that no one has really asked the right question.
That would seem to be, who was the real loser in this deal. It seems
pretty evident, that would be Roger Penske, AJ Allmendinger, & the
entire 22 crew. Not that I blame Steve for leaving. Given the
information he had at the time, I agree with it. I only wonder if he
could have known about Kurt getting the heave ho, would he still have
left. Dinger may not be the driver Kurt is…yet, but I watched
him drive the final stint in the 24 Hours of Daytona, this guy can
wheel a car, & he doesn't rattle easily under pressure. He's a lot
better than the car he's been given, to date.

I've been reading stories for weeks now, about the Indy 500 going on
without Danica. What no one, (until now) has seen fit to mention is
that it's going to go on without Sam Hornish also. I mean Sam's not
only a former winner, but an Indy Car Champion as well. He just doesn't
have as good a press agent, or look as good in a bathing suit.

While I'm thinking about Danica, after watching most of the NNW
races, it's pretty evident that she's in over her head in the
Nationwide cars. A season in the ARCA series probably would have been
much better for her development. It just wouldn't have been nearly as
good exposure for her sponsor. If she's over her head in Nationwide,
she'd need an extension ladder to see out of the hole she's in, with
Cup.  I guess she's not too worried about damaging her "brand," as
it doesn't seem to be performance based anyway.

I don't know about you but I've heard about all I want to from the
talking heads trying to spin her various laps down runs. No she's not
wrecking her car. That doesn't happen when you run at 75%. I just
finished a 444mi. bike ride. I'm about as ready for the Tour De
France, as Danica is for Cup next year. But to quote one of my
favorites, JJ Cale, "money talks, It says strange things."

Contrary to what you might think, I'm not anti Danica; I am however
very anti the hype, & the sense of entitlement that surrounds her.
I said in the pre-season that Chip Ganassi, had lots of work to do
this year. Chip must have agreed with me. I think he called last
season's results pathetic. The organization made sweeping changes.
Only problem is, they don't seem to be working. Currently his cars
stand 19th, & 22nd, in owner points. I don't know when his contract
with Bass Pro Shops, is up, but if it were me. I don't think I'd feel
too confident seeing the PBS logo all over Tony's  stuff, both Cup &
Sprint Cars. Winning a race, didn't save the 6 car, I'm not sure it
would save the 1 either. My suspicion is that it needs to make the
chase. At this point, it's going to have to be a wild card. It would
be a real shame to see this team that used to field a combined total
of 7 cars, shrink to a single entry. But it could happen.

Congratulations to Chip on his Indy 500 victory, but he's got lots
of work to do in Cup.

Think about this, how many stories have you read about Jr.
winning?  Kasey Khane's  600 victory, kind of puts a period on this
story. Jr's having a very good points season, he will make the Chase,
but he's not really contending for wins. That door doesn't always
swing open on its own. Sometimes you have to batter it down. JJ gave
Rick his 200th Kasey, his 201st. If Jr. wants to join the party this
team needs to step it up.

Speaking about stepping it up, how about the King's cars locking up
the front row for the 600. I think they made a very good move picking
up Mike Ford. Their speed was blazing in qualifying, but it fell off
precipitously in race trim. Marcos was running like the 9 used to
run, before the hub problem took him out of contention. Maybe not
this year, but Marcus will win on an oval if they can secure
sufficient funding to keep things going.   

I hated to see Erich fade, but I thought he did pretty well for
someone learning on the job. Kyle Busch's stated purpose was
to have fun this year. I wonder if he's having fun yet?

His recent meltdown at Darlington, probably didn't help his chances
any too much. He's really lucky he was able to hide from Newman's
irate tire carrier. Man, that guy was way bigger than Jimmy Spencer,
& just as mad. 

One thing I've noticed is that James still hasn't been able to
attract a paying sponsor. His wallet must be getting thinner by the
week 

Talking about stepping it up, what's the deal with Jeff, & the 24
crew. It's like the Rainbow Warriors, have been struck by lightning.
This is so uncharacteristic for this team. Maybe Jeff needs a jolt.
He should talk to Bobby Labonte, about what it's like when you fall
from the mountain top.

Last season we had the most first time winners that I can remember.
This season, it's another story. Three multiple winners already, & I
doubt any of them are finished, with wins clustered like this. I
expect the Wild Card entry this year may be very different. We could
see 3 or 4 teams with single wins. Two wins, will be pretty much a
lock, but with 1 they better have the points to back them up.

Speaking of first time winners, my money's still on the Dinger. But
the Captain's going to have to get the team up to speed.
To sum this up, a friend of mine owns a music store. I recently
purchased a CD by an artist that I really like. Next time I say him,
he asked me how I liked it. I told him that "if I wasn't already a
fan, it wouldn't make me one."That statement pretty much sums up my
feelings on the Cup season so far, as well.

As this was finished on Memorial Day, My hat is off to all the
Veterans. As the red necks like to say on the back window of their pickups:

"Hell No We Ain't Forgettin' ". 

Thank You.

Can You See The Real Me?

Can you see the real me? Can you? Can you? —The Who,
“The Real Me” ( Quadrophenia, 1973).
　
　
The picture NA$CAR and it’s celebrity spokesmodel’s PR people would like to paint doesn’t come anywhere near close to reality. In order to find out what NA$CAR’s celebrity spokesmodel is really like, you have to go outside of the NA$CAR box and go to the open wheel folks who “know her best” and that’s what I’ve done. Unlike the NA$CAR controlled media, which can do little more than sing her praises from on high, I went to the folks who had to deal with her in a professional setting on a regular basis and did some research to go with it. It’s not the pretty picture NA$CAR and their controlled media likes to paint.
　
Officials called her the “Queen Bitch”. Her own team called her "Bitch in a Box" for her antics during practice. She would pull into the pits, take off her helmet. Then she would pop up and complain, then sit back down, then pop up again to complain time and time again. The crew members at the front of the car stated “she looks like that clown that pops out of a jack-in-the-box”. 　
What did her fellow drivers think of her?
　
Dixon, Carpenter, Wheldon, and Franchitti all called Danica the Queen of Blockers. “She doesn't hold her line and blocks hard when she was about to be lapped”.

(If you’re not familiar with IndyCar or IRL rules, blocking was prohibited. And yet, Brian Barnhart, former head of racing operations, didn’t seem to see the blocking when it was going on.)
　
This is a comment by Ed Carpenter after the Iowa Corn Indy 250 back in 2008 regarding the blocking:
　
"I just started working with my car, working towards the front but Danica was doing her normal supreme block job," Carpenter said. "She is the new Scott Sharp of the series as far as I am concerned. That is two races in a row."
　
An official on pit lane was assisting Mid-Ohio security during an IndyCar race there. He was a Danica fan at that time. Security was at the gates to pit lane to prevent fans from entering the pits, as the pre-race preparations were starting. Danica walks through the gate, followed by several more people. The official stopped the people in order to check their credentials. Danica turned around and yelled at him, "They're with me, get over yourself!". After that he went over to Dan Wheldon to say “Kick Danica's butt”. Dan replied, "So, you met the real Danica." Wheldon apologized for her actions, stating the drivers appreciate the track workers & officials for all they do. Needless to say from that moment on, that official was no longer a Danica fan.　

One interesting incident, in light of a recent statement about not wearing make-up, comes from when NA$CAR’S celebrity spokesmodel was in the Atlantic Series and her car broke.
　
She pulled off track and was getting out of her car to go over the wall. When she saw the course marshal arrive to see if she was alright, Danica responded, "I'm so glad you're a woman. How does my make-up look?" 　

Of course, IndyCar fans remembers her throwing her team under the car when she qualified so badly. It seems she had to set the car up herself rather than having it set up by a more competent teammate. When she was interviewed, she was absolutely stunned at the boos from the stands. It was the next year she started her move to NA$CAR.
　
Andretti Autosports held an option on Danica's contract for the 2012 season. In January of 2011, she informed Andretti she was going to NASCAR full time in 2012. The deals were all done at that time, but she strung everyone along through September stating she had not made up her mind. A female version LeBron James.
　
Rahal-Letterman won the Indy 500 in 2004 with Buddy Rice. In 2005, Danica was promoted to the IRL. RLR's performance suffered, as Rice and Meira had to work on getting Danica's car set up. In 2006, Danica decided to screw Rahal in another way, by announcing she was moving to Andretti-Green. Shortly after, Rahal-Letterman shutdown their full time IRL program. Before 2007, when Danica joined, Andretti-Green was a powerhouse team, winning titles and the Indy 500 with drivers Tony Kanaan, Dario Franchitti, Dan Wheldon, and Bryan Herta. Then, along came Danica and the Andretti-Green team went downhill.
　
First Wheldon left, then Dario, leaving Kanaan alone to set up Danica's and Marco's cars. With the merger of the IRL and CART/ChampCar, the series began to move to an oval and road/Street course series. While Danica was average on ovals, she was even worse on road & street courses. As the series shifted to fewer ovals and her performance fading along with her popularity, she began looking at NASCAR. The money was going to be better and early indications were they were going to glorify her with unending coverage. In 2010, she started running a limited schedule for Jr. Motorsports in NNS and again in 2011. She stated through much of 2011 that she had not make up her mind about her 2012 plans. However, that was all lies, as she had told Andretti in January of 2011 that she intended to leave for NASCAR and not exercise the option with Andretti for IndyCar.
　
And let’s look at some stats. During his 10 years of driving in the IRL/IndyCar, Dan Wheldon led 2,865 laps with 16 wins and 43 podium finishes. During his 8 years in the IRL/IndyCar, Sam Hornish Jr led 3,428 laps got 19 wins, and had 47 podium finishes . During 7 years in the IRL/IndyCar, NA$CAR’s current celebrity spokesmodel led 124 laps with only 1 win and 7 podium finishes. Numbers alone show that NA$CAR’s celebrity spokesmodel does not live up to the hype.
　
Let’s look at the celebrity spokesmodel’s stats for the 2012 season:

Race	Finish	Wreck	AVG. Finish	% of Wrecks	Start	Avg. Start	% of Finishes on Lead Lap
Daytona Qualifier		1		100.0%
Daytona NNS	38	1		100.0%	1
Daytona 500	38	1	38.0	100.0%	29	15	0.0%
Phoenix NNS	21		32.3	75.0%	30	20	0.0%
Las Vegas	12		27.3	60.0%	12	18	20.0%
Bristol	19		25.6	50.0%	27	19.8	16.7%
Fontana	35		27.2	42.9%	21	20	14.3%

When the announcement was made that she would be the new NA$CAR celebrity spokesmodel, what’s the first thing she talks about? It wasn’t racing. It wasn’t her competitors. It was her branding & marketing. That right there should tell you where her priorities lay.
　
Dave Despain said on Wind Tunnel that she was over-hyped. And Dave would know. He’s been covering and following racing of all sorts for more years than I care to think about. Shawna Robinson, the first woman to sit on the pole in the Busch Series, couldn’t understand what all the hoopla was about. Shawna got her pole at Atlanta back in 1994. If you’ve never been to Atlanta, seen races there, or haven’t been following NA$CAR very long then you don’t know about the difficulties of driving there because of the speed, the need to have a car that handles well, and the driver skill actually required to turn a competitive lap. It may be a 1.5 mile track but it’s not the typical cookie cutter design.
　
And how about more recently in NA$CAR? It seems that the celebrity spokesmodel got in the face of her teammate Cole Whitt, verbally abused him knowing full well he wouldn’t take a swing at her because of her gender, and told him he needed to stay away from her because he’s inexperienced. Whitt? Inexperienced? He’s got quite a few more NA$CAR starts than does his teammate and finished 15^th at Phoenix while the celebrity spokesmodel finished 21^st, 3 laps down. And to add an explanation point to her poor performance at Phoenix, stomped away from the media after the race without so much as a word. Not exactly the image the new “savior” of NA$CAR should be displaying.
　
And what would’ve happened if you had replaced Cole Whitt with say Milka Duno? Would the celebrity spokesmodel have gotten away with the same verbal abuse? I don’t think so. She probably would’ve gotten a shove or maybe even a shot in the snot locker from Milka. It’s easy to get away with using your gender to berate and abuse your male teammate or competitors but try it with another female and see what happens. Especially a female who won’t take any guff.
　
Some folks will say I’m being sexist or a woman hater and they’re entitled to their opinions. Just like I’m entitled to mine. What I’ve done is expose some of the history of NA$CAR’s celebrity spokesmodel and newest savior. Gender has nothing to do with it. If you’re going to buy a “product”, you want to know all there is about it before you purchase it. Would you buy a Chevy Volt knowing that they catch fire when recharging? Or that they could catch fire during an accident? I didn’t think so. So why “buy” into the hype about NA$CAR’s celebrity spokesmodel when there are far better, friendlier, and more honest female drivers around who can be held up as good role models? Drivers like Simona De Silvestro, Johanna Long, Tammy Jo Kirk, Patty Moise, Janet Guthrie, Lyn St. James, Shirley Muldowney, Louise Smith, Shawna Robinson, Ashley Force & her sister. Drivers who are or were more concerned about racing than about their own “branding & marketing”.
　
And in the interest of full disclosure and to dispel the idea that I’m sexist, hater, or a woman hater, I do follow Simona De Silvestro & Milka Duno on Twitter. I follow Jennifer Jo Cobb on Facebook. I was a member of the Shawna Robinson fan club and my autographed driver’s card is hanging up in the bedroom of one of my nieces as an example to her that she accomplish what she wants with her life. I also use to cheer for Shirley Muldowney as she took down the big boys of drag racing. So adjust your opinions accordingly.
　
To paraphrase Teresa Earnhardt, I have a question for NA$CAR’s new savior. Do you want to be a race car driver or a celebrity spokesmodel? Answer that truthfully and you have the key to her future.
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　

Will Danica Save NASCAR?

First off, does NASCAR, really need to be saved? Short answer, no.....
but it damn sure can use some help. In the short run, I'm sure Danica's
presence will help.

Jimmy Johnson has won 55 Cup races. As well as 5 Championships, in a row
in what is arguably the most competitive form of motorsports in the world.
Just think for a minute about how many times you see Jimmy on TV in non
racing related situations. Versus Danica who's all over the TV, seemingly
all the time.

Surprisingly, the driver next to Danica, that I see the most on TV outside
of the races is Casey Mears, in his GEICO commercials. Personally I liked
the ones with Mike, & Lauren, Wallace, "story with me is, put him in the
wall." See, if I still remember it. It was an effective commercial, but that
ship has sailed.

The jury's still out on whether she's better known as Danica, the racer, or
Danica, the Go Daddy Girl. The real point here is that she IS, known.
The combination of her talent, looks, & a deep pocket sponsor,
( I'll let you sort these into any order you like, ) have all come together
into the 'perfect marketing storm'.

Until she is able to balance this marketing blitz, (or hype,) with on track
performance, many long time NASCAR fans are going to continue to be turned
off. Regardless of how they feel about this, they're not going to abandon
the sport.

On the other hand, she does have the ability to attract new fans.
In this respect, her presence can't help but be good for the sport.

We've all read the stories about how Dale Jr. winning, will give NASCAR
a big lift. No argument here. Every fan wants to see his, or her, driver
winning. As Dale Jr. has the most fans, then it stands to reason that his
winning would be very good for the sport.

That having been said, this sport is bigger than any of it's stars.
It's bigger than the sum of it's parts, but some of it's parts aren't
doing so well.

My opinion is that overall NASCAR's not nearly as healthy as they
would have us believe. The France family, on the other hand, are
doing extremely well, but are they slowly killing their golden goose?

The economy is getting the lion's share of the blame, & there's no doubt
that it's a big factor, but the decline started before the economic
downturn.

NASCAR has a number of things that need to be addressed to help reverse,
or at least stabilize, it's slide. I'll just focus on a couple of them.

They need exciting on track action. Fights, feuds, & wrecks, serve as
distractions. But until they can come up with a way to make the week, to
week, racing on the so called, 'Cookie Cutter', tracks something that
fans look forward to. Then they've still got a lot of work to do.
Running cars that fans can identify with would be a very good start.

The second thing they need, & this is absolutely critical, is financially
stable owners.

As things stand, being a NASCAR owner, in either Cup, or Nationwide
is absolutely the worst job in the sport. You don't see the drivers going
broke, & leaving the sport, but it's common for owners. Kevin Buckler,
& Rusty Wallace were just the last in a long line, & they won't be the last
for long.

While Rusty, didn't technically go broke. He shuttered his team to avoid it.
Thus proving that his eyesight is still plenty good enough to read the
writing on the wall.

Much has been written about the age of the owners, so I won't plow that
ground again. But I will say this, the sport needs is new owners that will
carry on the traditions laid down by people like the Wood Bros.,
Richard Petty, Rick Hendrick, (regardless of your personal feelings about
him) Roger Penske, Richard Childress, Jack Roush, Joe Gibbs, & yes,
Robby Gordon. It was guys like Robby, that built the sport, & the fact that
he's the only one left, & hanging by a thread is part of the problem.

Instead, we've gotten Bobby Ginn, George Gillett, & Dietrich Mateschitz.
I'm sure that these guys came into the sport, with all the best of intentions.
But the money pit that NASCAR has become, caused them all to flame out
quickly leaving havoc in their wake.

It shouldn't take a business empire to fund a team. A well run team should
pay it's own way. That isn't the case currently. Some of the blame has to
rest with the owners themselves. But a big part of this is on NASCAR.

Two ways this could happen. One would be to franchise the teams, but given the
NASCAR mind set I doubt this will ever happen.

The other way would be for NASCAR to quit sucking up every dollar they can lay
hands on for their own bank account, & see that sponsorship money goes on
cars. Rather than going be the Official whatever, of NASCAR. In the Go Go
days when sponsorship was plentiful this didn't really hurt so much, now it
does.

With the current leadership, (?) a quote from The Man From Snowy River,
comes to mind. "Not Bloody Likely."

The first two Frances, were into racing. Think back to how many times in the
TV era that we saw Bill France. When Cup raced, he was there.
Currently, Brian seems much more into marketing, & leaving the racing to
others. Second thought, that might not be such a bad thing.

I think that if I were called to the NASCAR trailer, by Mike Helton I'd be all
" yes sir, no sir, whatever you say sir". On the other hand, if I were called in by
Brian France, I'd probably have a really hard time not giggling. Helton, seems
like a guy that would have a blackjack in his back pocket. Brian, on the other hand, reminds me more of a guy with a condom in his wallet, & he's carried the same one
for like 5 years.

Bottom line, both Danica, & Dale Jr. have the star power to help NASCAR. But only NASCAR, can solve it's underlying problems.

No Truth To The Rumor That...

No truth to the rumor that….

Mike Helton and Jacque Debris are the same person
　
Faux King Brian declares Johnny Walker as a dependent on his income taxes
　
Santa delivered a tanker truck full of Scotch to a certain condo in Daytona Beach
　
KyBu and KuBu will be having a whine-fest at KyBu’s place on New Year’s Eve 2012
　
Santa was subpoenaed regarding a paternity test to prove he wasn’t the father of Faux King Brian’s off-spring
　
Larry Mac’s head will be sponsored by Turtle Wax for the 2012 race season
　
Motormouth Mikey received a pink tutu to wear on South Beach after the 2012 Homestead race.
　
NA$CAR will follow the WWE by having their own network.
　
The Motormouth Brothers signed a contract with ESPN-8, The Ocho, to cover tiddly winks with manhole cover tournaments instead of covering NA$CAR in 2012.
　
Zippy will be the crew chief to NA$CAR’s celebrity spokesmodel Danican’t 6 times in the same season after being fired by her 6 times.
　
John Darby bought stock in the Hair Club for Men
　
KyBu was blocked in his room Christmas morning because Santa overfilled his stocking with coal
　
JPM finally got the computer print out of his speeding penalty from John Darby for Christmas
　
Ron Hornaday dressed up in a Santa suit and filled all of KyBu’s vehicles with bull manure
　
Santa will padlock the Motormouth Brothers mouths shut during the 2012 race season
　
MWR got caught trying to boost their horsepower using gerbils on a treadmill
　
Badyear actually produced a NA$CAR racing tire that will actually last an entire race
　
Faux King Brian was caught supplementing his “sodas” with ethanol from the pump
　
All 43 cars that start the race will actually be shown by Focks & BSPN during all their broadcast
　
BSPN will hold its own against NBC Sports
　
Matt McLaughlin & I are the same person
　
Midget cars raced a 500 lapper inside the waistband of a pair of Mike Helton’s old 1990 pants
　
KuBu said to KyBu, “Mom always liked you best”
　
Cheech & Chong will enter a hemp powered car driven by Ashley Roachclip in the Daytona 500
　
NA$CAR’s celebrity spokesmodel Danican’t will be doing endorsement ads for the step ladder company that provides the step ladders used for her to get into her car
　
The person who stole the Aegis Labs laptop refused to steal Jimmie Johnson’s identity because he’s so boring
　
Faux King Brian was found spiking his “soda” with actual soda
　
Chad Knaus’ New Years Resolution was not to cheat, I mean exploit the gray area in 2012
　
JC France was caught trying to snort the white lines around DIS
　
Bruton Smith had a special buffer installed in his office to keep his head shiny
　
Mike Helton keeps Faux King Brian’s brain in a mason jar full of moonshine
　
NA$CAR’s celebrity spokesmodel Danican’t is teaching sailors how to swear
　
Somebody might find this humorous
　
I’m actually am sane and know what I’m doing
　
Faux King Brian knows what’s best for the sport
　

　

Big News Is No News

Big News is No News
　
The already known and not much interested in announcement that NA$CAR now has its own celebrity spokesmodel happened. General fan reaction seems to be “Big Deal!”. Judging from the Twitter traffic of race fans the extreme lack of interest was bordering on truly apathetic. We already knew NA$CAR was getting the IndyCar celebrity spokesmodel. We know she only finished on the lead lap 42.8% of the time against the Buschwackers, underfunded teams, start and parks, and back markers of the Busch Series. And the Ivory Tower Gang is expecting to see a miracles immediately if not sooner with the hopes that NA$CAR’s newest highly hyped savior will save NA$CAR from itself by filling up the grandstands with young boys just hitting puberty looking for cheesy bathing suit pin-up posters to while away their nights with during their late night fantasies and buy tons of her overpriced swag to help fill the coffers. Ain’t gonna happen bubba.
　
I would’ve loved to have had a lie detector hooked up to Danican’t during the press conference. That thing would’ve melted because of its buzzer and lights going off as many as times as it would from the false statements. “If it was for money I would’ve gone a long time ago”. Say what? I seem to recall her complaints about NA$CAR having too long of a schedule and how she enjoyed a 17 race season and being able to lounge around the pool and traveling around. It definitely is for the money.
　
Here’s what Kyle Petty said in an interview with USA Today about NA$CAR’s new spokesmodel:
　
Petty said Patrick's progress should be judged against full-time Nationwide drivers who once raced in Cup, and that her "race-craft" — her ability to execute passes and not just maintain a competitive speed — is the next critical area.
　
"She is a fast learner," he said. "But what I don't like about the Danica thing is if the hype that surrounds it is greater than the product on the racetrack”.
　
"She is a marketing machine. Carl Edwards and Jeff Gordon aren't the marketing machine that she is. But at some point, the marketing and the talent have to meet to produce results. I'm just not seeing it yet”.
　
"I'm all for giving her time, but I'm also all for killing the frigging hype. How long will the racing world buy the hype and not the performance?"　
Also uncertain is whether Patrick will defer a lifelong dream of winning the Indianapolis 500, and whether a one-off attempt at the Brickyard in May would have an adverse impact on her NASCAR schedule. In a May interview with USA TODAY, GoDaddy CEO Bob Parsons said he expected Patrick still would run Indy next year.
　
"I think in her heart and her head, she's still an open-wheel driver who wants to win the Indy 500," Petty said. "But where the money is for her is (in NASCAR), so this is where she has to go. At least she is here. … The biggest thing I get out of this announcement is that she's committed to NASCAR. She's not sticking her foot in the water. She's in, and that's a huge statement. In the past, she hasn't been committed to the sport."　

"But where the money is for her is (in NASCAR), so this is where she has to go”. “She is a marketing machine. Carl Edwards and  Jeff Gordon aren't the marketing machine that she is”. There it is in a nutshell. Money. Marketing machine. There is only one mention of her as a driver and it’s in reference to IndyCar, which I’ll get to later. And as far as her being committed, is she really committed to being a driver, making all of the sponsor appearances that go with a 35 or 36 race schedule, and dealing with the fans in a much better manner than she has to this point? Is she going to be willing to show up at a children’s hospital with other drivers? Will she show up at a charity event with drivers in support of their children’s charities where they make appearances? So far she’s done a fine job of mouthing off to fans simply wanting an autograph and has yet to make an appearance at a children’s hospital when other IndyCar drivers have and she was invited to. And how about her remarks about not liking road racing when there will probably be 2 more road races added to the Busch Series schedule? Will she be making a call to 1-800-WAA-AAAH because she has to drive on road courses? Can she cut the mustard as NA$CAR’s celebrity spokesmodel in the Busch Series much less in a Cup race? I sincerely doubt it. Why? Comments made during some of her Busch Series races about the other drivers “racing me to hard”. This isn’t supposed to be “ladies before gentlemen”. It’s racing. The job of a race car driver is to race to win which means that drivers will race hard to get the win. They will also race hard not to get lapped. So if you can’t stand the heat in the Busch Series kitchen, I hate to think how you’ll react when you have to go door to door with some of the Cup drivers.
　
And what about the actual schedule itself. The famous celebrity spokesmodel has said she doesn’t like racing on road courses and prefers ovals. Guess what? Since Gateway and Nashville closed their doors, 2 more road races are going to be added to the schedule. If you thought you hated driving a road course in a relatively light Indy car, you’re really going to hate it in a heavy Busch Series car.
　
The GropeDaddy CEO said in a May interview he expected the celebrity spokesmodel to still would run Indy next year. Guess what? Unless her Busch Series or Cup Series car owner buys a car for her to race in, it’s not going to happen. She burned too many bridges with team owners, engineers, crew chiefs, and strategists in IndyCar and there was a big sigh of relief when she made her announcement today. Of course, there was probably some money exchanged between Andretti Motorsports, Tony Stewart, and Dale Jr/Rick Hendrick to get her out of any contractual obligations she had remaining with Andretti. So she is now the problem and responsibility of Stewart-Haas and JR Motorsports. I sure hope they can afford the new Indy cars, engines, and replacement cars.
　
Faux King Brian’s comment that he is happy that she is bringing her talent to NA$CAR to compete with the best drivers in the world. Again, she is not a driver, but rather a brand/celebrity/spokesmodel. And best drivers in the world and most loyal fan base? BZF has been tipping back too many “sodas” again. Viewership numbers have been steadily dropping, seats are empty, and NA$CAR/I$C is losing money hand over fist, so what loyal fans is he talking about? The Dale Jr fans? The Short Attention Span Crowd he brought in to replace all the “good ole boys” who followed the sport since before Faux King Brian was even a gleam in daddy’s eye? I know many people that have turned off NA$CAR. The poor ratings attest to that. And the empty grandstands were happening before the economy went Tango Uniform and has only gotten worse. So what loyal fans is he referring to? And best drivers in the world? The Cup drivers don’t even race in the rain so they definitely don’t qualify as the best in the world.
　
Kyle Petty’s reference to the hype is so very true. Has anyone really noticed how the drivers that NA$CAR has hyped have fallen on their face? They hyped Burnt Toast and he fell on his face. They hyped Hambone and he fell flat on his. They continue to hype Dale Jr and his performance isn’t what it was before the Hype Machine took over. How long will the racing world buy the hype and not the performance as Kyle Petty and myself have both asked?
　
And what happened to Faux King Brian’s big welcome to Dario Franchitti when he tried NA$CAR? Or Jacque Villeneuve? Oh, that’s right. They’re not marketing machines or celebrity spokesmodels. They’re race car drivers. When Dario showed up, there was little to no hype even though he was the reigning IndyCar champ AND is married to Ashley Judd, a Hollywood A Lister. How could the Hype Machine miss that one? And look at all the hype surrounding Shrubbery’s win record? Like Kyle Petty said, “When he gets 200 Cup wins then come talk to me”. NA$CAR’s Hype Machine needs to rust to a screeching halt and let results actually speak for themselves.
　
Anyways, welcome to Brian's Big Top Danican't where you'll be welcome til the hype wears itself out and owners get tired of you not living up to it.　
　
　
　
　
　

Micsellaneous Miscellany

Rolling Thunder Modifieds
　
The Rolling Thunder Modified Series will be rolling into Motor Mile Speedway in Radford VA on August 6^th. The racing starts at 7 PM. And since it’s just down the road from me, I might just have to go check it out.
　
Prime Time
　
I don’t know how many folks have heard of the blog Prime Time Chuck, but he’s got an interesting point of view and has been writing a series on how to improve/save NA$CAR. It’s not exactly for the faint of heart but Chuck does bring out some very good points on how to turn NA$CAR around and save it from the poor management that’s driving it into the ground.
　
Indy Excuses
　
One of the excuses I’ve seen on several sites is the reason that attendance is off at Indy has to do with the saturation of tracks and race dates near Indy. Now, what was the excuse for moving all of those race dates out of the South? Oh yeah, that’s right. There were so many tracks in the South and it was saturated with race dates. I guess since the south no longer has that saturation of dates NA$CAR can move a few of them back in the hopes that some of the fans that they chased off might return.
　
Ed Hinton put the crowd at barely 100,000 as he’s been attending races there for over 35 years and can remember races being upwards of 300,000 for the Indy 500. Ed’s figures are believable considering how many empty seats were visible.
　
X-Games Ties Indy
　
According to USA Today, the X-Games pulled in 2.9 million viewers as did the Cure for Insomnia 400 at Indianapolis. While the ratings were up for Indy, they still aren’t even close to the all time high of 19 million viewers set in 2005 or even close to the 6.7 million viewers in 2008, the year of the tire debacle.
　
Lucas Oil Renegotiating Deal?
　
Since NA$CAR pulled the rug out from under IRP by moving the races across the street to IMS, Lucas Oil is said to be renegotiating their deal on the naming rights for IRP because they were counting heavily on the Busch and Truck Series races being at IRP to help in promoting their product.
　
Interesting Observation from Bill the Mechanic
　
Maybe it's time to quit using the economy as a reason for poor attendance. On the news Friday night they showed:
　
X-Games from LA. The place was packed. I don't know what the tickets, parking, or refreshments cost, but we can assume they're expensive just because they can get away with it.
　
Video Gaming Convention from Anaheim. Another packed venue. You can bet the entry fee and food were high priced. City of Anaheim controls the parking, I've been told it's $20 bucks at the Convention Center now. Angel Stadium also!
　
Surfing Contest in Huntington Beach. This is a major surfing deal and the locals are concerned about what they'll do with the huge crowds (500,000) that show up each year.
All this happening just this last weekend.
　
Not only that, but people are camping on the sidewalks for days to be the first ones to see the latest movie release. And you can't get near a phone store, with people having to have the newest phones.
　
Looks like people will find the money if you have something they want.
　
　
Carbon Epoxy Problems
　
Carbon Epoxy, the wonderful material used to make the front splitter, can create some major electrical problems when turned into a powder form, which is what happens when it’s ground down on the track as the results of the splitter hitting the racing surface.
　
From an article called “How Products Are Made”, I found a couple of things regarding Carbon Epoxy. One is the health issues:
　
During processing, pieces of carbon fibers can break off and circulate in the air in the form of a fine dust. Industrial health studies have shown that, unlike some asbestos fibers, carbon fibers are too large to be a health hazard when inhaled. They can be an irritant, however, and people working in the area should wear protective masks.
The carbon fibers can also cause skin irritation, especially on the back of hands and wrists. Protective clothing or the use of barrier skin creams is recommended for people in an area where carbon fiber dust is present. The sizing materials used to coat the fibers often contain chemicals that can cause severe skin reactions, which also requires protection.
　
Think about how much of that material is circulating around the race track and fans are inhaling not to mention what the teams are exposed to during pit stops and even during the fabrication of the generic race cars themselves.
　
The other issue is an electrical issue:
　
In addition to being strong, carbon fibers are also good conductors of electricity. As a result, carbon fiber dust can cause arcing and shorts in electrical equipment. If electrical equipment cannot be relocated from the area where carbon dust is present, the equipment is sealed in a cabinet or other enclosure.
　
So, think about your own electrical equipment you take to the races. Radios, cell phones, and cameras. And then there’s the electrical equipment the teams use. Alternators, ignition boxes, electrical switches, wiring harnesses, electrical and battery connections, computers, TV monitors, video cameras, satellite dishes, and team radios. All of which could be shorted out by the carbon fiber being ground off of the splitter. It makes me wonder how many teams, if any, have started sealing their electronics and using protective gear for the shop and track personnel exposed to the carbon fiber.
　
　
Celebrity Spokesmodel Making The Move
　
Unnamed sources are reporting in USA Today, the celebrity spokesmodel Danica will be competing in the Nationwide series full time for JR Motorsports next year with limited Cup starts for Stewart-Haas Racing. She would also plan to run a warm-up race and the Indy 500. This is what Go-Daddy CEO Parsons had hinted weeks ago and he is the one signing her checks (a reported $12m last year). So, if Go-Daddy is supporting Danica in a full season Nationwide, some Cup, and a couple of IndyCar races including the Indy 500, what are the chances that Kasey Kahne’s Hendrick car needs to be searching for a sponsor for next year. I do not believe Go-Daddy can fund Danica’s season and also another Cup car.
　
Nashville Speedway Losing Races
　
Track owner Dover Motorsports has said they won’t be renewing their races at Nashville Speedway for the 2012 season. Where the races will go is anyone’s guess. Between the dwindling attendance and the high cost of the NA$CAR sanctioning fees, they’re not getting the return on their investment. Where the races will go is anybody’s guess.
　
Speedway Motorsports Q2 Losses
　
Charlotte Business Journal reports a second-quarter net loss of $28.3 million, or 68 cents per diluted share, down from net income of $23 million, or 55 cents per diluted share, in the same period last year.
　
Bruton and company are blaming high fuel cost and high unemployment for the losses. I think it has more to do with the poor product being presented to race fans than fuel and unemployment. Not to mention the debacle at Kentucky, which will affect not only next year’s earnings but earnings for years to come.
　
F-1 Racing Coming to NYC Area


F-1 could be racing in New Jersey area with NYC serving as a background as early as 2013. Bernie Eccelstone is in negotiations with a group of investors and mayors of two New Jersey towns to hold a second F1 race in the NYC area. Part of the course would run along the west bank of the Hudson River with Manhattan in the background in the Weehawken and West New York cities of New Jersey.
　
I$C to Host IndyCar Races Again?
　
There is talk that ISC is in discussions with IndyCar to host races at California, Kansas City, and Chicago again. The main thing IndyCar needs to enforce is ISC promotion of the races, which is something they never did in the past. That was a major reason for dropping ISC tracks. But ISC realizes that NASCAR alone will not pay the bills with the dwindling attendance figures.
　
　
Truck Team Hauler Takes Out Starters Stand
　
Apparently, the Hauler for the #81 truck took at the starters stand at Pocono. Are they sending a message about Pocono?
http://yfrog.com/gznn2bfj

Sponsors, Media, & Real Stock Car Racing

Yet Another Sponsor Heading for the Door
　
Sponsors seem to be heading for the door more and more often the last couple of years. It was recently announced that Red Bull was leaving as a team owner with no plans towards sponsorship of another team. And now Crown Royal is heading out the door.
　
Let’s go back to when Crown Royal first showed up. Roush Racing had lined them up as a sponsor for the 2004 season. But due to a major case of greed, Crown Royal was snagged by NA$CAR and its incestuous twin I$C as the official liquor of their tracks and milked for sponsorship money for a full season before being allowed to continue on as a Roush sponsor. They had the reigning Cup champion as their spokesman in the #97 car in 2005 but got some bad publicity (guilt by association) from the Phoenix reckless driving incident and the residual dislike of the 2004 champion from his incident with Jimmy Spencer in which Spencer was forced to sit out for a week. The champ was released early by Roush, the car renumbered to the #26, and Jamie Mac took over the sponsorship. McMurray’s ride at Roush was pretty lackluster overall which didn’t do much for Crown Royal. McMurray left for DEI after the forced downsizing by NA$CAR and the sponsorship was moved to the #17 car, who had a previous sponsorship of another alcohol company. Matt Kenseth hasn’t exactly had a lot of shining moments since the Crown Royal sponsorship was put on his car. This is due in part to the network bias and coverage of the Japanese automaker and their drivers by Focks rather than covering all the cars and drivers. Plus it didn’t help that one of the commentators during the first part of the season has a problem with Ford and that he is “owned” by the Japanese automaker and is their head cheerleader. So even if Kenseth did good, his performance tended to be ignored by the commentators from Focks.
　
Another part of the problem is that NA$CAR’s blue collar fans, who made up the bulk of the fan base, were primarily beer drinkers so Crown Royal didn’t get the Return on Investment (ROI) they had hoped for. Crown Royal isn’t exactly allowed to be carried into the track whereas beer is. Plus the size of the Grand Am crowd, even though they might be more prone to drink Crown Royal, doesn’t make up for the loss of ROI on the Cup side of things. So farewell Crown Royal. Maybe you can find a sport which will give you the ROI you need and not be forced into various side deals by the sanctioning body of that sport.
　
Will the Queen of Hype Be Without a Sponsor?
　
Patrick's good run came on the same day as her sponsor GropeDaddy.com announced the company had been bought by a group of private equity firms for a reported US $2.25 billion.
　
While Patrick did get pushed around the track well until her teammate pushed her, the future has just gotten murky. Despite what’s being said publicly by the former owner, investors generally do not spend money on racing. There are not many teams that want her in IndyCar. The Andretti gig was related to the money she brought, first with Motorola, next with Grope-Daddy. Her hope is that she has not worn out her NA$CAR welcome, so she can maybe get something put together there. However, if the new owners move in a different direction with their advertising campaign and marketing money, this could very well leave the Queen of Hype (QoH), JR Motorsports, and Slick Rick without a major sponsor. Which leads to the question of will any race team actually hire her without a major sponsor? There have been great drivers with 100 times the driving abilities and skills of the QoH who couldn’t find a ride because of the lack of a major sponsor. So will anyone hire her without a sponsor? We’ll have to see what unfolds with the sale of Grope Daddy.
　
Real Professional Stock Car Racing Returning to America
　
It was announced that the Australian V-8 Supercar Series will be racing at the Circuit of the America’s in Austin Texas in a 5 year deal. For folks who enjoy seeing stock cars racing and not just generic race vehicles, here’s a chance to actually see cars which resemble their street counterparts racing each other. While the NA$CAR TV audience has been shrinking over the last several years, the V-8 Supercar Series audience has been growing. This is the same series where Marcos Ambrose got his start and won back to back championships bringing Ford back to life in competition down under. And you’ll even recognize some of the sponsors. Jack Daniels and Jim Beam are just two that NA$CAR fans are familiar with that sponsor Aussie V-8 Supercar teams.
　
Just How Big is the Fan Base?
　
Based on some info from one of my sources, the fan base isn’t anywhere near the highly touted 75 million fans Faux King Brian likes to go on about. The fan base is closer to 7 million fans. This would go a long ways towards explaining why the normal TV ratings don’t get much above 1.5 million viewers during the majority of the season and why so many sponsors have cut back or left completely. This would also explain why so few folks go to the Hall of Fantasies in Charlotte.
　
How Desperate is Daytona International Speedway?
　
This is off of the speedway web site:
　
Girl Scout Summer Slumber Party

July 30, 2011
　
Calling all Girl Scouts! Enjoy a fun slumber party inside the DAYTONA 500 Club at the “World Center of Racing,” Daytona International Speedway.
　
Since when are the Girl Scouts interested in stock car racing? This has got to be a joke. If it's really true then they really are desperate!!
　
And BTW, the Boy and Girl Scouts of Volusia County receive donations from the NA$CAR Foundation as do troops near Michigan Speedway. Not to the national headquarters where the money can be even distributed but only to these local troops.
　
Blocking
　
Wasn’t it Tony Stewart who blocked Regan Smith at Talladega and forced Smith to go below the yellow line to keep from wrecking and costing Smith the win?
　
The is No Truth in Pravda and There’s No News in Izvestiya

This is an old saying from the Cold War which reflected the view of the average Soviet citizen. Pravda is the Russian word for truth. Izvestiya is the word for news. Pravda and Izvestiya were also the newspapers approved and run by the Communist party and were mandatory for businesses, factories, and the military. Both newspapers were used to announce official policy and policy changes. And back then, the Soviet Union was pretty much a dictatorship between a front man or actual Premier, the KGB, who controlled some leaders from behind the scenes, and the Army being the “swing vote” as it were should either the Premiere or KGB become too strong.


Now, let’s look at the NA$CAR controlled media. NA$CAR is a dictatorship controlled by one man. The “official” NA$CAR media only reports what NA$CAR allows them to report, just like Pravda and Izvestiya. The NA$CAR controlled media announces official policies and policy changes, just like Pravda and Izvestiya. And while there’s some truth in the form of fluff pieces and standardized interviews (which both Pravda and Izvestiya had for factory supervisors who reached 5 Year Program quotas), there’s more smoke and mirrors and propaganda than factual information. Some folks will take offense to this, as is their right, but folks who can think for themselves will do a little research and find the comparison quite valid.
　
Control of the media covering NA$CAR is nothing new. It started when Big Bill formed NA$CAR according to the late Jack Flowers. Big Bill would wine and dine members of the press in order to get positive publicity and print and for those who didn’t go along with it, they were blackballed. The same control of the media has gone on through succeeding generations of the France family to include not just NA$CAR but also court proceedings regarding other members of the France family. You won’t find much in the way of Amy France, Brian’s cousin, and her violating the custody & visitation agreement of her child by the child’s father. The most recent examples of the Frances trying to control the media regarding the courts is with the lawsuit in Charlotte of Megan France by her former husband and the heavy hand of NA$CAR censoring the Jeremy Mayfield interview by Steve Byrnes on Speed TV several months back.
　
Then we have the continuing saga of the Double Secret Probation Fines that have been slapped on folks like Hamlin, Newman, and others which eventually see the light of day. Organizations that have to use secrecy, threats, and intimidation in order to promote a positive image in itself isn’t very positive. And even with the “happy happy joy joy” message the controlled media tries to send, the fans who can think for themselves and have longer than a 5 minute attention span know that something is very wrong with the sanctioning body and their messengers.

The Teleconference

Several things I gathered from Faux King Brian’s teleconference last week. One is to expect the broadcast portion to be “dumbed down” even more than it has been. Why? Remember the last time Faux King Brian talked about creating new fans? We got the massive invasion of the Short Attention Span Crowd.
　
“I look at the interest level of the sport, and that's growing after having peaked and maybe dropped back a little bit for some reasons a couple years ago. The general interest level is going up and that's what we're going to be working on, is creating new fans”.
　
And last year when he admitted that the “fans” have a shorter attention span than they use to. Gee, I wonder why? Expect to see more things aimed directly at the Short Attention Span Crowd, like repeating the same garbage over and over and over even more than they do now. A good example would be how many times per race we get an explanation of aero tight and aero loose.
　
Read the question carefully and then the answer.
　
Q. You have the races where you grow ratings and attendance, then you have the off week. Can you detail the reasons why you have this off week so early in the season? Are you going to change that for next year?

BRIAN FRANCE: Well, it's historically how many events in the calendar we want to run, regardless when they ran. Historically it has been around this time where we do have an off weekend. Arguably you would like to have that come down eight or ten races later. But that's just how the schedule and the climate issues that we face with certain markets and everything else has played out. The reason for changing it is mostly driven that the other sports calendars are going to change on us - not just the NFL, but maybe some other things. So we're trying to get into the right date. It also does accomplish, when we change next year, moving back the 500 a week, we'll eliminate the early schedule gap here. That will probably be a good thing.
　
The answer doesn’t answer the question. It’s like a politician speaking. Lots of hot air and words that mean nothing.
　
Q. Brian, a lot of feedback that we in the media get from fans is about the post-race show or the lack of a post-race show. There seems to be a sense of frustration that fans invest so many hours into an event, then they get under 10 minutes of reaction after from the drivers that they've been watching. Is that something that NASCAR is hearing from your fan council? Do you have any input with FOX to try to solve this dilemma fans are faced with?

BRIAN FRANCE: We do have a fair amount of programming that happens with the SPEED Channel throughout the post race, even into the evening typically. But, yeah, I think generally speaking we would agree, that it would be nicer to have a longer post-race. But if you think about it, most sports don't have a particularly long post end of a game, whatever else. The networks don't stick around for an additional half hour. It's not something FOX should be thinking about because, after all, that's just not the norm with network or even cable television. Once the game is over, there's typically a short post-race. You hope the rest of it, social media, NASCAR online, places to digest good post-race information is where they go.
　
Considering who really calls the shots on what will and won’t be shown, I’m rather surprised that Faux King Brian doesn’t appear to really care about putting the NA$CAR brand on the winner even more with more post-race exposure of the winner and getting in as many post-race interviews as possible to help extend the NA$CAR "branding" of his brand of racer-tainment. Plus he seems to forget that not everyone gets Speed TV. Folks who don’t have cable or satellite can’t watch it. And even some folks with cable or satellite don’t have it because it’s not included in their package or is considered an extra that cost them through the nose. So they can’t watch the post-race coverage Speed TV offers.
　
Q. What do you see as the biggest impact on television ratings? Sponsorship revenues you and the tracks can earn or how are they becoming more critical on the rights fees as you start negotiating in the next couple years?

BRIAN FRANCE: We spend a lot of time looking at obviously traditional broadcast television. Our cable partners are critically important. We spent a lot of time recently looking at the other media, which is social and digital media, where that's all going, where people are getting information, content and everything else. We have a plan. We have a robust plan in the long run. We'll try to capture both. But one of the ratings impact is people are getting their news, updates, their fix, if you will, in lots of different ways today. We're going to want to, as a sport, make sure that we're taking advantage of all of them.
　
If Faux King Brian and his cronies actually spent a lot of time watching the races on TV, they’d see what the fans are complaining about with poor commentary, poor coverage, and too many commercials and the need for split-screen coverage like IndyCar uses to show both the race and commercials at the same time instead of the current running of commercials being briefly interrupted by a lap or two of racer-tainment. “We have a plan”. I seem to remember Richard Nixon saying the same thing when it came to Vietnam only we never found out what the plan was.
　
“But one of the ratings impact is people are getting their news, updates, their fix, if you will, in lots of different ways today. We're going to want to, as a sport, make sure that we're taking advantage of all of them”.
　
Notice the word “fix”. Faux King Brian is making it sound like race fans are a bunch of junkies in desperate need of drugs. A Freudian slip on his part? As the TV coverage and commentary is God awful, fans who have the means use things like Track Pass or Race Buddy to actually watch the races and supplement that with radio coverage by PRN or MRN to help eliminate the highly biased commentators and shills. I don’t know how many folks have noticed it but a lot of effort is being put into advertising the sanctioning body’s official web site. They’ve sponsored a couple of trucks and if you look at the tracks you’ll see the web site’s name painted on the asphalt or on the grass. Of course, after the latest changes to that web site and how badly they screwed it up, I can see why they’re trying to lure fans in and advertise it. If they really wanted to get fans to that web site, they’d make it easy to navigate and use. Instead, they make it more complicated than trying to assemble an engine while blindfolded with one hand tied behind your back. Fans use Twitter, Facebook, and various blogs to stay up to date and to get reliable info which isn’t in the same cookie-cutter mold as is presented by the lamestream journalists.
　
Q. Brian, can you address the ethanol situation and what challenges have you faced with the implementation to the new fuel in the three top series?

BRIAN FRANCE: Well, the fact that we haven't had a discussion is evidentiary proof of how well it's working. We couldn't be happier with it. From the early testing, we got good performance numbers. The teams certainly think it's working well. It obviously takes us another step. Especially now that you see energy prices going where they're going, it takes us a way down the road with a real biofuel that we're using in the car. They've just been a really good partner so far and it's going well.
　
“The fact that we haven't had a discussion is evidentiary proof of how well it's working”. Obviously you didn’t hear the profanity-laced dialogue between Biffle and his crew chief at Vegas regarding the new fuel and the fueling system. It isn’t working well. You might be happy but that’s only because you’re getting paid to be happy about it. Just what are you going to do when Congress cuts off the funding for ethanol because it’s actually a farce? You want a real bio-fuel? Try running the algae-based gasoline. Or convert to diesel and have the teams run oil from some hamburger or chicken joints and fill the stands with the smell of French Fries or fried chicken. That’s true bio-fuel.
　
Q. What do you think of Danica's run last week, historically what that did, the highest finish by a female in any NASCAR national series?

BRIAN FRANCE: I think that elevated her. There was some discussion, did she have the right stuff to compete in the Nationwide Series. You know, I think she dispelled a lot of that. There's always circumstances in the start of a new career. But sometimes things are out of your control, people can crash in front of you, a hundred other things. I think she elevated herself quite nicely. That's nice to see. She's a very competitive person. She's always said she's here to compete, not just happy to be here. That fits my criteria.
　
Anything that makes you a buck fits your criteria. Danica’s finish is not the highest finish by a female driver in NA$CAR. She finished 4^th in a fuel mileage race in NA$CAR’s AAA series equivalent. Sara Christian finished 5^th in NA$CAR’s top series in 1949 at Pittsburgh. Janet Guthrie finished 6^th at Bristol in 1977 in NA$CAR’s top series. So until she runs in the Cup Series and gets a 4^th place finish she isn’t the highest female finisher in NA$CAR.

There were more questions asked and Jayski's got the transcript posted for all to read. Check it out, read it very carefully, read what's said, what's omitted, and how the questions are really answered versus what the question asked.